THE STRUCTURE OF CUSTOMS AT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC

Have you ever wondered what the administrative structure of the customs administration — one of the fundamental institutions of the Republic of Turkey, which is celebrating its 102nd anniversary — was like at the time of the Republic’s foundation? I did, and in order to satisfy my curiosity, inform the sector, and leave a note in history, I decided to put the topic on the table. While doing so, I tried to capture an X-ray of that period and present it to the readers.

The General Directorate of Revenues (Rüsumat Müdüriyeti Umumiyesi)

As long as states have existed, tax and customs administrations have also existed. During the Ottoman period, provincial customs administrations operating in a scattered structure as coastal, border, and inland customs offices were connected to the Istanbul Commodity Customs Supervision in 1859, and in 1861, the name of this institution was changed to “Rüsumat Emaneti.” By the decree dated July 12, 1909, the Rüsumat Emaneti was abolished, and the customs and related institutions were connected to the Ministry of Finance under the “Rüsumat Müdiriyeti Umumiyesi.”

From the content of the decision, it is understood that the reason for this structuring was that since customs collected state revenues, it would not be appropriate for them to remain under their previous status or be connected to another ministry, and that such institutions in many European countries were connected to the Ministry of Finance.

After the abolition of the Rüsumat Emaneti and the attachment of customs to the Ministry of Finance under a single budget, a practice was initiated where all correspondence related to customs had to pass through the Ministry of Finance. This situation caused delays and certain difficulties, primarily in operations. To resolve this problem, by means of a regulation, customs were connected to the Ministry of Finance with an independent budget and administrative structure.

According to the Regulation dated 1/9/1909; customs were administered by a Director General subordinate to the Minister of Finance. The Director General was appointed by the Sultan upon the recommendation of the Minister of Finance. Department Directors in the Central Administration, together with the Chief Inspector, General Inspector, Correspondence Officer, Accountant, and Chief Directors, were selected by the General Directorate and appointed by the Sultan upon the proposal of the Minister of Finance. The Legal Adviser, Heads of Central Office Departments, and Controllers were appointed by the Minister of Finance upon the recommendation of the Director General. Other officers were appointed by the Director General. Promotions of the officers appointed by the Minister of Finance were made by the Minister upon the recommendation of the Director General, while promotions of other officers were under the authority of the Director General.

Regarding expenditures, there was a division of authority between the General Directorate and the Ministry of Finance. The authority to approve expenditures exceeding two hundred liras belonged to the Minister of Finance upon the recommendation of the Director General. The Director General was authorized to make payments for expenditures below two hundred liras and to pay the salaries of officers. Again, according to the same Regulation, all correspondence with ministers was carried out through the Minister of Finance, while directors were authorized for other correspondence.

From this information, it is understood that under the system where customs were connected to the Ministry of Finance with an independent budget and management structure, the authority regarding appointments, promotions, and, when necessary, disciplinary actions of all officers other than certain senior officials belonged to the General Directorate of Customs (Rüsumat Müdüriyeti Umumiyesi). In addition, the authority to make expenditures not exceeding a certain amount also belonged to the General Directorate of Customs.

Legislative Regulations

During this period, important and new regulations were implemented in terms of Customs Legislation. A scientific, systematic, and specific customs tariff was prepared and put into effect in 1916. Again, by examining the “Customs Laws of Western Countries,” a modern Customs Law was prepared and put into effect in 1918. In addition, with the 1909 Customs Regulation, a declaration system was introduced in customs.

Some parts of the Customs Legislation applied during the Second Constitutional Period continued to be implemented during the Republican Era. Indeed, the 1916 Customs Tariff remained in effect until the Customs Tariff Law No. 1499 came into force in 1929. Similarly, the Customs Law dated April 11, 1918, continued to be applied, with some amendments, until the Customs Law No. 5383 came into force in 1949.

Central and Provincial Structure

When we started the War of Independence, there was already a structured customs organization shaped by the “1914 Rüsumat Yearbook.” The structure of both the central and provincial organization, shaped by the yearbook, continued until December 29, 1931, when the “Ministry of Customs and Monopolies” was established under Law No. 1909.

According to the Yearbook, the central organization consisted of the General Directorate of Customs, the Directorate of Inspectors, General Correspondence, Personnel and Supplies Directorate, Control, Statistics and Manifest Directorate, General Military Affairs Directorate, Legal Consultancy, Laboratory, Printing House, Office Directorate, Customs Protection Directorate, Transfer Office, and the Crew Assigned for the Protection of the Ottoman Coasts.

The provincial organization consisted of the Customs Directorates of Istanbul, Galata, Haydarpaşa, Izmir, Beirut, Iskenderun, Baghdad, Jeddah, Yemen, Trabzon, and Edirne. We can see that in places not within the current borders of our country, such as Beirut, Baghdad, Jeddah, and Yemen, there were Customs Directorates, and in places such as Mytilene, Chios, Rhodes, Beirut, Haifa, Jaffa, Baghdad, Basra, Haktin, Jeddah, and Basra, there were Customs Offices.

Authorities of Customs Administrations

In the Customs Law dated April 11, 1918, it is seen that customs administrations were divided into three main classes according to their duties and responsibilities. According to this classification, first-class customs administrations were authorized to carry out all customs procedures for all kinds of goods without exception. Second-class customs administrations were authorized to carry out all customs procedures except for those requiring analysis in customs laboratories, while third-class customs administrations were authorized to carry out only the procedures for goods accompanying passengers and for all kinds of domestic trade and export goods.

Today, this classification is still in use.

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